To be Ninja of Konoha
by Meteorain
Summary: Story that follows some of the ninjas on Konoha, and how they take the problems they will face from the feared Akatsuki. Read to find out...I cannot explain to well. [NaruHin, ShikaTemaino, TenTenNeji] Chapter 3 up.
1. Good News and Bad News

A/N: Hey people, this is my first attempt at Naruto fanfic. I hope you guys like it. Please read and tell me what you think. Thanks!

Uzumaki Naruto, sixteen years old, and a Chuunin level ninja of Konoha. Having recently retuned after three years to Konoha after much training with the legendary Sanin Jiraiya, he had been welcomed back by his fellow ninja, and found himself back doing the duties a ninja of Konoha would do. Yet at this moment, he was not enjoying himself.

"Argh! This stupid D-Rank mission is so stupid" Naruto exclaimed for what must have been the hundredth time.

"Well if you didn't decide to play that stupid prank on Hokage-sama, we wouldn't be doing this" Shikamaru replied in his usual manner of boredom.

Having reached Chuunin level, Naruto found himself in a new group form the one he was when he trained with Kakashi. His new members being Shikamaru –group leader- Ten-Ten, Kiba, and himself. When Naruto had seen them again after three years, they had changed quite a bit. Shikamaru was still thin and strong, yet he was much taller, and seemed to have lost some of his constant expression of having something bad-smelling held under his nose. Ten-Ten still had those two balls of hair on her, yet she had grown to become prettier than Naruto remembered, which surprised him, considering he never thought of a girl in such a way -must be the hormones, damn things- Kiba like the others was taller, but surprisingly shorter than Naruto -Naruto had grown quite a bit, and was no longer the shortest of his ninja friends- but with a much heavier build and Akamaru too had grown.

His entire group had grown in many ways other than physically. Shikamaru not as lazy, though still enough to put Naruto off. He was changed now, a bit more on his toes one could say, he heard it was because Temari and Ino were both trying to attract him, and both were quite firm with him. Ten-Ten hadn't changed much really, she still had those flashes of anger, yet she was caring too. Much more since she started going out with Neji. He never would have guessed that the Hyuuga would have allowed some-one to get so close to him. Lastly Kiba was well Kiba really since he thought about it….he was still like him old-self, much like Naruto still was; still loud, a prankster and full of confidence.

Coming back from his small thoughts, Naruto realised just what he was doing. His 'mission' was to go around every house that had a garden, and weed them. A Chuunin weeding a garden! That was such an embarrassment. Not being able to take anymore, Naruto decided to do something about this, to speed up the process, so they could finally go train as they were allowed.

"Right that's it. I have an idea guys" Naruto addressed the group.

"Great" Shikamaru said sarcastically, "Please tell us before you do it. It would make things easier"

"Right. Ten-Ten I want you to use your shiny pointy weapons to cut up all the weeds. I know you can cut all of them at once, so you should do this bit. Then I need you…Shikamaru and Kiba to use a Fuuton Jutsu to blow up all the cut weeds into the. Then finally once they are in the air, I'll use a Katon Jutsu to just burn all the weeds in mid-air. Well what do you think?" A proud Naruto finished looking at his team.

"Well…there is one problem" Shikamaru began.

"What? WHAT?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Let me speak. If we do as you suggest we still haven't killed the weed's roots"

"And? Do you want to do this all day? Let some Genin do this when they grow back."

"Tch. How troublesome….Hokage-sama won't be pleased if she finds out"

"Aaaa. Stop worrying. I'm sure neither me nor you want to do this all day" Naruto told him in protest.

"You know, I think Naruto may have a good idea for once. I just want to get this over with" Kiba put in, with Akamaru barking in approval.

"Hai. I also want to do things" Ten-Ten added, "I promised I would meet Neji" she finished, blushing furiously.

"Tch, fine" Shikamaru said, giving in to their words.

Taking their places around the garden, Shikamaru looked around and then nodded for them to begin. In one quick movement, Ten-Ten had realised a whole sortie of sharp projectiles, which cut up only the weeds with her amazing accuracy. NO soon though, Kiba and Shikamaru quickly performed some hand seals and blew a powerful wind that threw up all the leaves in a group above the garden. In a flash Naruto performed some hand seals for the Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu, blowing forth a spray of flame from this mouth that burned the weeds in one blast.

As the fire from the Jutsu dissipated, Naruto couldn't help but grin. His plan worked. The others just shook their heads; they knew his head just swelled a bit bigger.

"Now, we have some free time, where I can eat my Ramen and train." Naruto stated, grinning like a fool.

"Yea, yea…how troublesome this is. Anyway remember to meet outside Hokage-sama's office at eight for the meeting" Shikamaru informed them. After that, they made their own way into town, with Naruto heading towards his favourite Ramen shop.

Walking down the street, Naruto could hear a familiar voice. It sounded like Sakura. She sounded like she was telling some-one something.

"Look. All you have to do is ask him. Draw him aside, or somewhere nobody is if you are feeling shy" Sakura's voice came, and was soon followed by the rest of her as he turned the corner to face another of the Chuunin groups. The small force consisted of Shino, Sakura, Hinata and some new guy that apparently became a Chuunin whilst Naruto was away. Naruto himself only became a Chuunin two weeks back, since he could not do the test when the others did.

"Hey!" Naruto greeted them.

"N-Naruto?" Sakura said a bit surprised, but quickly regained composure, "Hey Baka".

"Sup" came the other greeting from Shino and the new guy.

"H-Hello, N-Naruto-kun" came the greeting from Hinata, who seemed a bit nervous, and went slightly red in the cheeks, which obviously confused him.

He watched as Sakura then shoo-ed Hinata in his direction, whispering something to her. Slowly Hinata came to stand in front of him.

"N-Naruto-kun, I…err...want to ask you something" she asked shakily, and her cheeks growing redder.

"Sure Hinata. What is it?" he replied, a bit curious.

"Well…erm…do you mind if I asked…err…when there are…err…in private?" she answered going even redder in the cheeks.

"Err…yea ok." He replied, his curiosity growing.

He walked slowly with Hinata, glancing at her. Even he could see, she was very nervous. He wondered what was bothering her. He liked her, she was polite, kind and caring. He liked her, because she showed courage where it was hardest for her, taking his advice, and never giving up just like he does. But most importantly, she had believed in him where no-one else would, and that was what he liked most about her.

Eventually they came to a small area near Hokage faces carved into the mountain, where they stopped. Hinata then looked before turning to face him.

"N-Naruto-kun…erm…err" she began shakily.

"Yes Hinata" he asked, his curiosity high now.

"Well….err…well" she began again, but she quickly took a hold of herself, and spilt-out what she wanted to ask.

"Would you like to go out on a date with me" she asked in a rush.

At first Naruto was stunned, as he just looked at her. He looked at her, and saw how she had changed. She was taller now, her hair grown long and beautiful now. Her features much more feminine, and shamed as he was to have noticed, she had grown a generous bosom to maybe even rival Sakura's or Ino's, and he found himself finding her very attractive and cute now. His fondness for her growing stronger for some reason.

"Err…" he began at first, not quite knowing what to say.

Hinata looked a bit dejected, with her eyes cast down, "If you don't…"

"No. I would love to go on a date with you" he replied, not liking to see Hinata unhappy. Her face immediately brightened to his words.

"You quite cute, I would very much like to go on a date. Hinata-chan" he said, feeling good to see her smiling.

Unable to control herself, she flung her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. Naruto was surprised at first, but soon he smiled, as he hugged her back. He had no idea why he agreed he felt son good to hold her, most likely his hormones he thought. But she was pretty cute he added with an after-thought.

Unwrapping her hands from around him. She asked him if he would like to go to tomorrow's festival with her, which he gladly agreed to. Taking her back to her friends, he saw she was no longer nervous, and her face lit light the sun. Waving to her as he left her with an excited Sakura asking question, he went to go get his Ramen.

The day seemed to have been bad for him, with that D-Rank mission, but all of a sudden, Naruto felt it was a whole lot better.

Shikamaru walked lazily up to his favourite cloud watching hill, where he lay in the grass, watching the clouds go past lazily, without a care.

"Hey" came a voice from behind him, and soon two blue eyes stared at him.

"Hey" he replied, as the girl he recognised as Ino lay down beside him looking at the clouds.

"You know there's a festival tomorrow" she said in a light voice.

"Uh-huh" he replied slowly.

"And you know there will be a lot of dances, with a lot of people taking dates" she added

"Yes..and?" he said carefully, seeing where this was going.

"Well, if you haven't already guessed, I would like for you to take me to the festival as your date" she told him, now looking at him.

Her words stopped him staring. He was in for it now. Not only did Ino want him to take her to the festival, he knew Temari would expect it as well. This was not good…how could both of them like him…he wasn't particularly good looking for one, or very social for another. Thinking quickly he wondered, how would be the best way to get out of this before he agreed to anything, which would mean he could assume that Temari would most likely flay him alive.

"Err…Look what's that over there?" he pointed, thinking what a stupid distraction it was. He was in for it now….

"Huh?" Ino said, looking to where he was pointing.

As soon as her head was turned, he jumped up, and ran for his life down the hill to his home. He was in it now. This was not good….

Just to confirm his words, "SHIKAMARU" Ino screamed, "WHEN I FIND YOU. I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU TO A PULP" she screamed at him.

Oh God! Why did it have to be him? He continued to run, and soon he found himself outside his house, where he threw himself through the door, and locked himself in his room.

Trying to let his breath calm, he never liked to be rushed into things. Girls were so troublesome, but he knew now, he was in something more than just troublesome. Trying to think of how he could please both Ino and Temari, he quailed at the idea of them both storming into his room.

Oh what could he do? This was much too troublesome, and he was too young to die. At sixteen he had excelled quite far in his ninja ways, but he was also introduced to many things, one being how troublesome girls were. He really could not understand what Temari and Ino saw in him. He was a lazy bum, with no looks, and an unsociable character. Yet he still managed to get into hot water. This most likely only the beginning of his problems.

Ten-Ten made her way to the only place she was certain she would find Neji. She was rather anxious, because Neji never asked her anything but to train, but this time he said he wanted to ask her something.

Ten-Ten was a young girl of sixteen. She was now an attractive girl, with quite feminine features. Yet she was not like Sakura or Ino. She liked to train, especially with Neji. She was a master with ninja weapons, and quite aggressive at times. Yet something had changed, since Naruto had come back. She was not as much unlike Sakura and Ino as she thought, because she liked to be complimented, especially by Neji. Over the years she had grown close to him, and he to her, even thought he never showed it. She still had her hair tied in two balls on her head, and she was now Chuunin, along with many of her fellow ninja friends.

Yet right now, she was tense, what did Neji want? With the festival coming up tomorrow, could he possibly have come out of his little world of training to ask her out? Her heart thumped in anticipation.

Entering the little clearing Neji used for a training area, she saw Neji sitting on a log.

"Neji" she called out, then making her way to sit down next to him. He looked at her with his piercing white eyes. She remembered a time when she was scared witless by his stare, but she soon grew to like them, they were Neji's.

"Ten-Ten" he began, which set her heart jumping. He never started anything with her name, "I would like for you to accompany me to the festival tomorrow" he told her.

"Are you asking me out Hyuuga Neji" she said, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Err.." Neji was never one lost for words, "Yes. I like you a lot Ten-Ten, and I want to take you to the festival tomorrow".

Ten-Ten smiled at this. Finally Neji had told her what she had wanted to hear for a long time.

"I will go with you Neji" she told him, smiling. White eyes regarded her, and small and extremely rare smile graced his face. She turned away, blushing quite red. Suddenly she felt something brush her cheek. Did Neji _kiss_ her? Her heart raced like wildfire.

"I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow. Ten-Ten" he told her, and with that left her staring after him. She couldn't stop smiling. Suddenly a thought hit her. What should she wear. She was never very good with clothes. She would have to ask Sakura to help her. Getting up, she rushed into town in search of Sakura.

Whilst the goings on in the village went on as usual. Tsunade was in deep conversation with Jiraiya.

"This letter…you realise who is behind this?" she asked the white haired man.

"Hai. Akatsuki" he responded.

"Hmm…it seems that they won't stop till they have who they want. Especially 'him'" she said, thinking of the boy whose fate was sealed within him.

"There is no other way to avoid more innocent killings Tsunade" Jiraiya told her, "We will have to hold this 'competition' between the countries" he added.

"Yes…I'll have letters sent. I'll also call up a meeting with ANBU and the Jounins to discuss what to do"

The two fell silent, as Tsunade called in Shizune to deliver some messages and set-up a meeting. Things were not going well…Konoha was in for yet another horrific surprise.

A/N: Hey that's the first chapters. Please tell me what you think. Thanks!


	2. Close encounter and more bad news

A/N: Right I've read some of the reviews for my first chapter, and I've taken into consideration some of the points. So here's the chapter, oh sorry to disappoint you Rock Lee fanatics, but Lee's not in this chapter, but he gets a brief mention.

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Hinata walked with her fellow ninja teammates after just asking Naruto to the festival, and was now being pestered by an excited Sakura.

"Well? What did he say?" a curious and excited Sakura asked.

"Err…he…he agreed to take me to…t-the festival t-tomorrow" a blushing replied, and her reply was answered by a small girly squeal by Sakura.

"This is great…Ino and myself will help you find a dress" Sakura told her excitedly.

Hinata let out a small sigh; she didn't know she was holding. Naruto…she didn't know what he liked, maybe Sakura did, she had spent a lot of time with Naruto when she was in Kakashi's team.

"If we know anything about Naruto, we know exactly what will put Naruto's panties in a twist" Sakura told her with a wink, which made Hinata blush embarrassed at the statement. She never thought about things like that.

A small cough came from behind her, and she turned to look at Shino standing still, his mouth twitching ever so slighty. That must mean he is highly amused, Shino normally never changed his expression.

"Before you girls run off. A reminder if you will. Remember to meet outside Hokage-sama's office at 8" he informed them, the corners of his mouth twitching ever so slightly, whilst his eyes revealed nothing due to his dark glasses.

Sakura eyed their group leader's expression suspiciously, before grabbing Hinata by the wrist, in search of Ino. Hinata was anxious as well as excited at the same time. She was excited in a bliss that Naruto finally returned her fondness for him, and anxious that Naruto may not like how she looks, or finds her shyness too boring. No Naruto had encouraged her before when she was even shyer, and he seemed to like her.

Coming back out her thoughts, she realised that Sakura had eventually dragged her to a small hill where they found Ino fuming.

"Eh? What's wrong Ino?" Sakura inquired seeing Ino's expression.

"That lazy bastard Shikamaru. When I told him to take me to the festival tomorrow he ran away" she told them in angry tones.

"You think he's going with…Temari?" Sakura asked cautiously.

"If he is…I'll break him in two" Ino replied frighteningly.

"Well…anyway" she said and then looked at both of them, as though seeing them for the first time, "Oh hey Hinata-chan. What's up?"

"You'll never guess" Sakura said in good spirit

"What?" asked a curious Ino.

"She finally asked Naruto out"

"Oh! Oh! And?" Ino asked excitedly, her curiosity much aroused.

"He agreed" Sakura finished with a grin.

"Oh my God! I would never have imagined…are you sure? Naruto with a girl? Who would be so…?" Ino exclaimed, but stopped at her last sentence seeing Hinata, and blushed embarrassed.

"Right! So you and I" Sakura said pointing to Ino, "are going to find Hinata-chan something to wear to send Naruto to another world."

"Hai! Hai! Great idea! Come let's start!" Ino agreed excitedly as she and Sakura dragged Hinata into town.

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Naruto ate wildly at his seventh bowl of Ramen; three empty bowls were piled up on either side of him. Finally finishing the seventh helping, he let out a sigh of contentment. Ramen was so good.

Paying the old man who ran the Ramen shop, he got up and decided that since he had free time to the first time since coming back, he would do some training, and maybe show-off to some other's who might be there, the cocky old Naruto thought.

Making his way to a small training Naruto used to use with Kakashi before he became a Chuunin, he saw a bunch of what looked like Genin's he had never seen before training. He decided to watch them to see how Konoha's ninja's were fairing. At first they battled it out for a while, but then they stopped, as they began to talk.

"Hey Atamari! I reckon I could take you now" one of the boys called out to a kid with brown hair.

"I doubt it Baka. I could take all you numbskulls" the boy named Atamari replied to the four others.

Naruto snickered at the thought of a four on one. The kid kinda reminded him of himself, except you know, he was Naruto and he was an exception.

"HEY! What you laughing at Baka?" the boy named Atamari shouts, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. He could see that the boy directed his attention at Naruto.

"Not much from what I can see," Naruto replied, locking eyes with the boy.

"Oh yea? Who are you anyway? I haven't seen you around here before? You can't be any good. I would recognise anyone who was worth being noticed" the boys told him confidently.

Something clicked inside Naruto. He didn't like being insulted. This kid was really getting on his nerves already.

"Whatever little kid. Just run along now, before I have to whoop your ass to show you your nothing," Naruto told him, walking into the training area.

"Oh yea? I bet I could take you. You don't look like much" the kid replied, a challenge in his eyes.

"You sure you want your ass kicked all over Konoha?" Naruto asked dangerously and amused. It wasn't cowardly to fight some one younger than him. He just wanted to teach this kid a lesson.

"Right. That's it. Your mine" the hot-tempered kid burst out. With deadly speed, he ran at Naruto.

Naruto was impressed. He was fast. Too bad not fast enough. Jumping back, he performed the Kage Bunshin. Half dozen clones popped up.

"Ha. A Bunshin. You expect to win with that? They can't do anything," the kid said in reply to Naruto's move, as he ran towards one of the clones to fight it.

SMACK!

"W-Wha? What the hell was that? Clones can't do that," the kid said disbelievingly

"Never underestimate your opponent" was all Naruto said. The kid's face contorted in anger, as he made for Naruto.

This was getting boring. But before the he could do anything, the kid began to perform seals. What the? So young and using seals like that. The kid surprised Naruto again.

"KATON HOUSENKA"

Multiple balls of fire sped towards him. The kid had great charka to be able to do something like that. Naruto grinned though. The kid was good, but not good enough. Drawing upon the hidden power of the Kyubi, he just stood there, as the balls of fire sped towards him.

"Not moving eh? Too scared? Your done for now" the kid said triumphantly.

Naruto waited until the balls of fire were nearly upon him, before he drew upon some of the red chakra of the Kyubi, and in a flash moved out the way, and ran behind the kid. Grabbing the kid by the shoulder, he turned him round, so he could look him in the eye.

"Never underestimate your opponent" he told the kid, before he flicked him on the forehead with his middle finger.

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto. One day I will be Hokage, so it would be good to remember the name" and with that let go off the kid, who looked at him still confused as to how he had got there.

Turning back, Naruto decided he didn't want to train anymore and left the four Genin's to stare after him. He was hungry again. His thoughts ran back to Hinata as made his way back to the Ramen stand. He felt nervous now. He had never been out with a girl before. Suddenly as he walked through the streets of Konoha, his old sensei appeared next to him. He looked up at his sensei…he was still shorter than Kakashi.

"I heard you have a date," his old sensei said.

"H-How did you know?" asked a confused Naruto. Kakashi just smiled, as he walked beside Naruto.

"Kurenai…Hinata's old sensei told me. I thought I'd talk to you before she did" Kakashi told him, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I'll treat you to some Ramen, so you will actually listen to me" Kakashi told him. More Ramen? Ramen was good. There was always more room for Ramen, Naruto thought.

Going back to the Ramen shop, that Naruto had come from. The old man running the shop smiled, seeing Naruto return to eat more. Naruto of course was his best customer by far. Getting served some Ramen, Naruto began to eat, as Kakashi began to talk.

"Naruto…now Hinata is a nice young girl, and Kurenai, doesn't want anything to happen to her…and well, when a young man, goes through a certain phase…"

"Kakashi-sensei" Naruto burst out, when he heard what Kakashi was saying. He knew where this was going.

"Jiraiya-sama already told me this…" he said embarrassed. He remembered as the old hermit began to explain all about the birds and the bees, in an indirect attempt to teach Naruto about sex-education. Eventually, the subject was gotten around, with embarrassment for both Naruto and the old hermit.

"Oh! Well in that case. Knowing how you are Naruto, you'll probably take Hinata to the festival wearing those orange clothes of yours" Kakashi told him with surprise at first, and then with a friendly tone after.

"What's wrong with them?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Nothing. But when you take a girl out, you have to look…better. So Hokage, since she seems to have a soft spot for you, bought you some clothes."

"WHAT? Even old granny Tsunade knows? Does everyone know" Naruto demanded. Kakashi smiled at him, as he paid for the food, and got up to leave.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, following Kakashi, "Can you at least tell me where you kept them?" he asked. He might as well try and look his best for Hinata.

"Their on your bed" Kakashi said simply, before whipping out his book, and ignoring Naruto. There was no point asking more, once his old sensei got his book out, you couldn't ask him anything and expect a straight answer.

Sighing, he took a look at his watch. Ten to eight. What? Time really did go by fast. Oh well…gotta see old granny Tsunade now. With that he made his way to the Hokage's office.

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Shikamaru sat on his bed. He had done so for the last few hours. For all his genius, he was neck deep in shit, and he could think of no way to get out of it. Both Temari and Ino expected to take them to the festival, and if either find out about the other, he truly would not see the light of day again. As though to confirm his thoughts, his mother's voice came from below.

"Shikamaru…a young girl is here to see you. I'll send her up," his mother's voice told him, with a tone that said he should talk to her, now. His mom was scary…oh well, the slaughter begins.

The door opened slowly, and a young girl entered. A great big fan on he back. She looked at him, and he quailed at the thought of she was going to do to him. She must have heard by now. She always knew when another girl talked to him.

Closing the door with her foot, she took a seat on the bed next to him. She slowly turned her head to look at him. He eyed her warily. She was quite attractive, and he supposed he did like her, she was fun to be around, but she still scared him, much like his mother did.

"Shikamaru…" she said softly. Too softly for his comfort. She ran two fingers in imitation of legs up his arm. He shivered. What is she doing?

"I hear that you are taking another girl to the festival tomorrow" she said softly to him, still showing no intention of the harm that he knew he would duly receive.

"I-I-I…I didn't agree to anything…I-I-I" he stammered, trying to give reason to what Ino said. This was more than just a bother, and he knew if he said that, he would be skinned alive. How could he explain to Temari about Ino? Just as that thought entered his head, his door room burst open, and Ino stood there in the doorway. He thought he would faint.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, staring daggers at Temari. This was going to get nasty.

"I could ask you the same. I'm here to ask Shikamaru what's he's going to wear to the festival tomorrow, when he takes me" she said calmly to Ino. From that statement he thought the blood vessel that appeared on Ino's forehead was going to burst, from the look on her face.

"When…Shikamaru…takes…you?" she said slowly. This was bad, this was bad, this was bad, this was very bad. Shikamaru could feel the tension between them, and thought he could see sparks crackle between their eyes.

"Err…now I-I think we should all…" he tried to put in, but found that this was a very bad idea.

"YOU STAY THE HELL OUT" both of them rounded him, each poking him with a finger.

"Now Shikamaru going to take me to the festival" Ino told Temari, her tones on a dangerous brink.

"I don't think so. That's not he told me yesterday when I was here" Temari replied, licking her lips to put her point forward. Ino looked shocked, and turned to Shikamaru with a look of disgust on her face. She turned back to Temari, and her posture changed, as did Temari's. This was getting real bad, he didn't want his room trashed, by two violent girls, he had to do something fast.

"W-Wait. The reason I cannot go out with either of you is…" he began, and both of the girl's heads turned to look at him, he had to think fast, "is because…" oh well here it goes, "is because since my dad is out on a mission…I'm taking my mom".

Well that was that. The most stupid thing he ever could say. Even Naruto couldn't be so stupid. Just then to his horror, his mother walked in. She looked at the three of them, and quite pointedly ignored the tension that was so thick in the room. Both girls turned to face his mother.

"Is it true Mrs Nara?" Temari asked

"What dear?"

"That Shikamaru is taking you to the festival tomorrow?" Ino finished off Temari's question.

Shikamaru looked pleadingly to his mom. 'Say yes' he mouthed. He watched as his mom looked around, and saw the predicament he was in.

"Yes" she said in a sigh, "my poor husband won't be able to take me tomorrow, so I asked my dear son if he could take me, since he never does anything to help as it is too bothersome" she finished, smiling at the last part…he must have reminded her of his dad he thought. 'Thanks mom' he mouthed gratefully. Saved…for now he thought.

"But don't worry…I'll make sure he dances with both of you" his mom told them consolingly, as Ino's shoulders slumped, and Temari gave him a look that said we'll-talk-later.

"Now, come on…I believe you have to go see Tsunade-sama soon, it's nearly eight" she told them, ushering them out the room. Shikamaru glanced at his watch. Five to eight…he would make it if he ran. Not bothering with any good bye's he rushed to the door, and was followed by Ino.

She said nothing, as they both made their way to the administration office, where Hokage's office was. His thoughts went back to the situation that just passed. He was lucky…he was sure when he got back, his mom would expect him to do a lot of troublesome things in repayment, but he didn't mind, not if it meant he kept the skin on his back.

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Naruto paced impatiently up and down the corridor in front of the Hokage's office. What was taking Shikamaru so long? Just as the thought ran through his head, Shikamaru appeared with Ino behind him.

"What took you so long?" Naruto demanded.

"Err…had to help my mom" Shikamaru said offhandedly, stealing a glance at Ino, who's face scrunched up a bit hearing the answer.

"Well anyway. All the other groups have been de-briefed. We better go in now" Naruto told him.

"Hai" Shikamaru said in acknowledgement.

Naruto made for the door, and pushed it open to enter. He was a bit surprised. Old granny Tsunade's desk was littered with paper, and there quite a few Jounin in the room, along with a bit more ANBU than usual.

Naruto eyed them warily. Why all the ANBU? His thoughts were interrupted by a woman's voice.

"Naruto get out the way off the door you idiot, let the other's through"

The comment put Naruto off a bit, he couldn't let the old woman get away with insulting him in public.

"Oh I'm surprise your ancient eyes can see that far granny Hokage" he replied insolently. A few of the Jounin's smiled, and he thought he could see an odd ANBU's eyes lighten a bit behind those masks. Yeah, one more point for the Naruto team, he thought happily.

A slight cloud of anger passed on the Hokage's face, but then she just sighed, and shook her head.

"So, give me a quick de-brief of today's events. There's something important I need to tell you" she said, waving a hand at them to hurry up.

Shikamaru stood in front of her desk, and gave her a run down of the day's missions –if they could be called that- went.

"Ok, with that done. On to some more important business" she began, as Shikamaru finished the team's de-brief.

"As you all know, for the last two years, an annual competition has been held amongst the hidden villages of the different countries" she continued. Naruto frowned slightly. They held competitions whilst he had been away? He cursed…old perverted hermit never told him about this. Maybe now was a chance for him to see how strong he had become.

"And as usual we have picked five of the strongest Chuunin's to represent Konoha, for the tournament, as each village has five representatives" she told them, looking at each of them in turn. Shikamaru stood there with his this-is-so-bothersome look as usual. Ten-Ten was attentive, staring at Tsunade, as was Kiba. Naruto was tense, he had to be one of the five.

"Who have been chosen Hokage-sama?" Kiba asked. Naruto was surprised, from what he knew of Kiba, he was never this forward in such matters.

"So far the representatives are Neji, Lee, and Shino" she told them. Two places left, Naruto thought to himself. That meant himself and someone from his team. But who?

"Who are the other two?" he asked, his curiosity rising.

"Ten-Ten and Shikamaru" Tsunade told him blandly.

The names hit him like a brick. He wasn't picked? Surely he was one of the strongest five in the village. He felt his anger rising, some of it fuelled, by Kyubi. The demon always did so, hoping he would kill something. How could he have not been picked.

"WHAT?" he raged. He took a step towards the Hokage. Anger burning inside him.

"HOW COULD YOU HAVE NOT PICKED ME? SURELY I AM STRONGER THAN MOST OTHERS" he shouted at her. He wanted to know why? Why was he not picked.

He took another step towards her. He wanted an answer. He felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked at the Jounin who had placed it on him. Kakashi.

"We have evaluated the representatives, and this is our choice, there will be no argument in the matter" the Hokage told him, her voice blank, and hard.

He tried to take another step forward, but Kakashi gripped his shoulder a little harder.

"You may leave" she told them, already giving her attention to the paper work on her table. The others bowed formally, and left through the doors. Naruto stared at her, anger swelled up like a huge balloon ready to burst inside him.

He felt the hand tighten again. He shrugged it off, and headed to the door, forgetting the formal gesture of respect before leaving. He smacked the doors open with a loud crack, walking down the corridor.

How could she not pick him? Anger bubbled inside him. The turned to a wall, and punched it, focusing a lot of his chakra into the punch. Chips of stone flew, as he left a huge hole in the wall. The building shook slightly from the force of the punch. He needed to enter that competition no matter what. He had trained for three years under the legendary Sanin Jiraiya to become stronger and prove himself, and now he couldn't. He was going to enter that competition. He just had to.

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Tsunade watched as Naruto left, nearly ripping the door of its hinges as he slammed them open. A few moments later the building shook slightly. Naruto…

"I'm sorry but I cannot let you enter" she whispered to herself. It was too dangerous for him. They wanted him, and it would just end up like it did last time from the account she was given.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea not to pick him" she heard Kakashi speak, "Knowing Naruto, he'll find a way to enter the competition no matter what" the one-eyed Jounin said to her.

"You know we can't…not when their after him. They'll try and take him" she told the Jounin.

"Still…you're going to have a hard time on your hands now" the Jounin replied, looking out the window, as Naruto jumped from building to building. Most likely going somewhere to vent his anger. He hoped that the angry boy didn't cause too much destruction.

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A/N: Right this chapter was to get things going. I hope you have an idea what's happening, and I look foward to see Naruto pissed off and raging all over Konoha. Sorry about not introducing Lee yet, he'll come next chapter. Review please.


	3. Musings, Feelings and Lessons

A/N: err, I'm sorry I have not written for such a long time I HAVE been busy and stuff, with all the moving into new school, and important exams etc. I hope you will forgive me, but I am back to working on this fanfic

Also I know a lot of the new Naruto changes many things, but I'll stick to since when I was writing this fanfic, and I am still only on episode 97 or something (blame my 56k not me :O)

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Naruto's elated mood earlier from having Hinata ask him to take her to the festival, was now black. It has only taken that short time in the Hokage's office to turn it to that.

The bloody had. What right did she have to prevent him from entering? All those years, and he finally had a chance, not only to test his strength, but to prove to himself, that he had what it took to become Hokage, as well as to the rest of Konoha. All those years, and now she takes it from him.

His black thought's thundered through his head, and he forgot all about Hinata, the festival, and the clothes that Kakashi had bought for him.

He wanted to hit something. Hit it hard. He wanted to break a great many things right now. The Kyuubi did not particularly help with the situation either, as it fuelled his anger. Naruto wanted to cause random destruction, but he did not want to be next to any other people.

He made his way through Konoha to a part of the forest that was situated outside the walls of the village. He knew a clearing that had enough space and tree stumps on which he could vent his anger on.

His rage now burning like wildfire across grassland meant that he ran into the clearing and immediately proceeded to beat the hell out of a tree stump with his bare fists. It was probably a good thing that the stump was fairly thick, because at the rate it was being pummelled, Naruto might have destroyed a lot more trees, as he would just move onto another tree to hit.

Which is what essentially what happened after a while. Each hit became progressively harder, and eventually broke the stump, which now looked like a pile of large splinters scattered everywhere.

During this time, he had noticed that ANBU had come to see where the huge chakra increase had come from, because he was now in the process of destroying all the surrounding trees in single blows, as the Kyuubi's chakra - which he could access some of its chakra without succumbing to it- enhanced his punches.

As he was just about to move to hit another tree, he was interrupted.

"You shouldn't do that. Konoha likes its trees. Also it wouldn't be Hidden Leaf Village if you were to deforest the whole area".

He snapped round to see Kakashi standing on a low branch (of one of the spared trees) looking at him lazily.

"Shut up" he retorted reflexively in his defiant mood, "Why don't you replace the trees then? Fight me, and be useful for once, instead of telling me crap like you usually do" he said, challenging the one-eyed Jounin.

He watched Kakashi's brows furrow slightly, and then shake his head.

"Fine. But we warned, since it seems you want all out, I won't go easy on you".

"Whatever, just get on with it" was the reply the Jounin received, before he saw Naruto charging at him.

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Kakashi didn't quite know what to expect from one of his former team 7 students. Jiraiya had said that Naruto had greatly improved since they had left, and he no longer fought as brainlessly as he used to. But he also mentioned that no could totally take away that trait from Naruto, especially when he was angry. This seemed to be the case right now.

Naruto looked pretty angry to him right now. This should be ok he though to himself. I'll just let him chuck a few punches and throw a few techniques before beating and then sending him home. Sleep will do him some good to calm his anger.

As expected, Naruto just charged right at him. He easily blocked the flurry of Taijutsu attacks and evaded the fire based jutsu that Naruto aimed at him when his Taijutsu did not work. This happened several times, before Naruto decided to change tactic.

As expected by Kakashi again, Naruto used his Kage Bunshin, which he easily with a Kage Bunshin of his own. He was mildly thankful that Naruto did not use his Tajyuu Kage Bunshin, as he would not have been able to easily take down so many Naruto clones.

Yet, by now he thought that the fight had dragged on long enough, and he decided to end it. Performing an earth jutsu, long tendrils emerged form the ground and held Naruto in place. Moving quickly he then appeared behind Naruto with a kunai to the boy's neck.

"Time to go home, you have lost" he said with his usual lazy voice to the boy.

"Don't underestimate me Kakashi-sensei" the boy replied, and his body was replaced by a log.

A kawamiri? Where is he then? Looking around, he noticed he could see Naruto. Then he suddenly felt a surge of that immense and disturbing charka. Damnit, what is he up to?

Pulling his forehead protector up, he revealed his Sharingan eye, and scanned the surrounding area. He was quickly able to spot Naruto by seeing the flow of Red Chakra. Kakashi was slightly surprised to see the boy using that chakra, whilst still retaining control over his battle lust. Yet as if the boy knew he was now spotted, his form just blurred as he moved, and then Kakashi could no longer follow his movement.

Looking all around him, he kept seeing the slight trail of red at the corners of his eye. He could not keep with Naruto's speed. Then the pain hit him.

He hunched over as a crouching form of Naruto sent a kick to his stomach, the boy lifting his leg from the crouch, and then he was gone again, but now Kakashi was forcefully straightened up, a kunai to his own throat.

"I will find a way to enter the tournament. You can tell that to granny Tsunade" the boy told him, his voice close to his ear. With that he felt the boy's evil chakra disperse rapidly, and he turned around to see Naruto running back to the village, hopping from tree to tree, and then easily clearing the wall, and eventually disappear out of view.

He _had_ underestimated Naruto. The boy fought so differently from before. His fighting style at first still random and just a flurry of attacks, until he made his opponent think that was how he fought. Then he unleashed his other fighting way. He had heard the determination in the boy's voice as he said those words; he just hoped the boy didn't cause too much trouble.

"Hmmm….you have changed Naruto…" he said softly to himself, as he made his own way back to Konoha, to rely Naruto's message to the Hokage.

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Naruto jumped from roof to roof as he made his way back to his own little house. His thoughts now occupied on how he was going to enter that damn tournament.

Naruto knew he was never the patient type for him to think too much, as he was easily distracted. Therefore other things like jumping from roof to roof did not help his concentration, so he decided to quickly just go home, sit down, and rattle his brain from some ideas.

Quickly making his way into his small two-roomed house, he made his way to his bed instinctively to sit down. Yet when he got there, he was surprised to find some clothes on it. He then remembered what Kakashi had said about buying him some clothes.

Naruto looked at them, unimpressed. Why do I have to wear that? It looks stupid.

Looking at the clothes then made him ponder for a bit.

During his training and travels with Ero-senin he had picked up many things other than new jutsu's. Thinking back to the times he had been to festivals because pervert hermit had wanted to meet some 'beautiful women' he had noticed that only the girls had tended to dress-up, and the guys wore something smart, but more casual.

Looking in the mirror, at his own set of orange clothes, he nodded confidently.

"Yep. I'll just wear this. I'm sure Hinata won't mind" he said aloud. But just then, a certain memory of and earlier encounter today decided to pop-up.

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.:Flashback:.

He had just finished talking with Kakashi sensei about the birds and the bees, which luckily got cut-off, and was making his way to the Hokage's office, when he came across Sakura, who said she wanted to talk to him.

"So what is it Sakura-chan?" he asked her.

"Firstly, I want to tell you, I know you're going with Hinata-chan to the festival tomorrow. This means I have to warn you about certain things."

"Now. Hinata is a very good and innocent girl, and really likes you, why? I don't know. But if you do anything to upset her, I'll knock you're teeth back into that skull of yours. Also, I don't want you doing anything perverted to her…"

"Sakura-chan! How can you say that? I will never do anything to hurt Hinata-chan" he replied to her warning.

Sakura was a bit taken aback by Naruto's word, which were truly genuine. She stopped herself before she could smile.

"Good. Then we seem to understand each other. Have fun tomorrow" she replied and turn, saying the last with a giggle, and started to walk away.

"Oh! I nearly forgot" the pink-haired girl said, spinning around to face Naruto.

"Don't you _dare_ wear that stupid orange-outfit tomorrow, or you'll regret it. We want Hinata to enjoy her date" she said, and once again left him there.

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.:End of Flashback:.

Naruto gulped at that thought. Ok so maybe he wasn't allowed to wear his usual clothes, although he didn't see was wrong with them.

He pondered a moment, and then realised he had bought some clothes whilst with ero-senin. Rather, he was forced to, so that he could 'blend-in' as a youngster whilst on missions, without using chakra that could be spotted, just like his bright orange clothes.

Rummaging through his little cupboard, he took out some clothes that he thought looked ok.

The clothes consisted of a black T-shirt with two red fox-eyes printed on the back -he thought they looked cool, and served like a little reminder to him- and a pair of dark blue jeans. They were loose on him, but not baggy, and reached down to his heels. Taking out a pair of closed white shoes to replace his sandals, he then left them on a chair, ready for tomorrow.

He smiled as he though of tomorrow. He had never had a girl like him before, and Hinata-chan was quite cute he thought. He blushed slighty, even though nobody was there, as his thoughts wandered to Hinata kissing him.

"Damn hormones" he thought out loud, and made to sit on the bed, but not before putting Kakashi's clothes away in his cupboard.

Now. He had to think of what he could do to enter the tournament. His thoughts jumped from idea to idea. But he had some sense to analyse them, and dismiss them as ridiculous.

He was, after several hours, straining to think of something that Ero-senin may have told him.

After a few moments, he grasped onto a vague memory.

"_All things that if agreed between 2 or more hidden villages are always recorded on paper. This is to ensure that terms are kept, so one cannot do something and claim they did not agree to that. Also it helps on missions to know this, so information on agreements between other villages can be found, so that we are not kept in the dark, if this agreement may lead eventually lead to them becoming our enemies."_

Naruto now became slightly excited. Wasn't the tournament agreed on between the hidden villages. Then that meant any rules concerning tournament entry and such had to be written down.

Naruto silently thanked the perverted hermit for making him go through those meditation lessons so that he could recall any information he might have picked up, even if indirectly. This was also mostly because he thought Naruto had very little brain power.

Coming back to his previous thoughts, he realised that this meant only one thing now. He would have to get those papers, to see how he could enter. And there was only one place where they would be stored. The Hokage's private library.

How the hell was he going to break into the Hokage's library which was more than likely guarded by ANBU without being noticed AND take out any scrolls to look at without granny Tsunade noticing, let alone get passed the guards.

A long time passes as he thought about this. Yet to no avail.

Man this sucked he thought. That had wouldn't let him look if he asked, in case he did find something, and also refuse in spite. And he could think of no way to out manoeuvre the ANBU to steal anything.

Damnit. Well he could think about this some other time he finally decided. It was late, and he could do nothing tomorrow anyway since he was taking Hinata to the festival. Well at least there was something to look forward to tomorrow. Spending his time with Hinata.

His thoughts stopped in their tracks. Yea, he really was looking to forward to spending time with her. This further confirmed to hi that he really did like her. He did not know whether it anything more, but he certainly felt good. Also he had never had a female companion so close to him.

Putting on his pyjamas (yea he still wore those), he jumped into his bead, and promptly fell asleep with a small smile on his face.

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Lee jumped ecstatically around the village. He ran here and there, back-flipping and anything he could do to keep up with how fast his mind was racing.

Yes! Yes! Yes! His thoughts exploded.

The flower had blossomed for a second time, and he was the one to pick it.

After all these years, Sakura-chan had finally accepted him. She finally seemed to like him, and agreed to go with him to the festival.

"I must tell Gai-sensei this great news" he thought out loud, and then raced to where he would expect to find his teacher.

Upon entering the small training area with its worn tree stump, he found his sensei training by doing push-ups in a hand-stand position.

"Gai-sensei" he called out, which bought Gai to a standing position.

"What is it Lee my most handsome and worthy pupil?" his sensei asked him.

"I have great News. I have managed to finally to get a date with the girl I have liked for so long" he replied, his words tumbling out of his mouth.

"This is great Lee. You mean Sakura right?"

"Yes!" he replied with much pride.

"Kakashi's super-smart excellent medic-nin? You have done well Lee" Gai replied, tears streaming down like little waterfalls.

"I know Gai-sensei" he said, his own eyes watering in the same fashion, as was expected from the two.

After their little tears of joy, Gai suddenly went serious and began to speak.

"This means we must find you some other clothes to wear…"

"I cannot wear the amazing green battle suit? Is this true?" he asked, his face showing a mixture of shock and surprise.

Gai nodded sagely at his student.

"Yes, this is true. From my experience, girls and women like their other to be well dressed, meaning in something they regard good looking in, not what they usually see them in. Especially not what they see them sweat, work and fight in."

"Truly?" his surprised student asked, awed by his sensei's knowledge of women.

"Yes. This will mean we will have to find you some super cool clothes to wear, so that you can truly shine."

"Yes! I hope to impress Sakura-chan" Lee replied determination in his voice.

"That leaves on thing then Lee" Gai then began to say.

"What is it Sensei?"

"Can you dance…?"

"….no…" said a suddenly disheartened Lee.

Gai seeing his most favourite student down, jumped in immediately.

"Not to worry. Your great sensei will teach you what you need to know in one day" he told Lee.

"Really? This is great Gai-sensei. I am truly honoured to have such a great sensei"

"Lee…"

They both then began to cry as was typical of the two, in their waterfall like fashion.

That was truly going to be one very long day for Lee, as he was about to find out.

A/N: Well I finally have another chapter up for you guys to read. Again I am sorry about the huge delay. But I hope you'll R&R.

Thanks!


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